This invention relates generally to aerial toys, and more specifically concerns such a toy which includes a flying member such as a rocket, an airplane or the like which is launched by air action involving a pump portion of the toy.
Aerial toys which include a flying member, such as shown in FIG. 1, are well known. Such toys include a pump portion which is used to launch the flying member. The toy shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1, which is illustrative, includes a hollow sleeve element 12, a base pump member 14 into which one end of the sleeve element 10 fits, and a launch tube 16 mounted at the other end of the sleeve, upon which the flying member 18, such as a rocket, is mounted. In FIG. 1, the sleeve 12 is shown all the way into the base member 14, while the flying member 18 is shown fully onto the launch tube 16, which is connected to the top of the sleeve. In operation, the pump member is moved from an extended position, in which a substantial portion of the sleeve is exposed, to a position farther up along the sleeve, forcing air up through the launch tube which in turn forces the flying member positioned thereupon off of the launch tube and into flight.
It is desirable that the flying member fly for as long and far as great a distance as possible. However, a long flight typically requires a very tight fit between the flying member and the launch tube, which results in a substantial amount of air pressure building up within the launch tube before the flying member is launched, i.e. before the pressure overcomes the resistance between the launch tube and the flying member. The substantial air pressure accounts for the long flight. However, the disadvantage of this arrangement is that a significant amount of force is required to position the flying member on the launch tube, i.e. forcing the flying member, which has an open internal volume, onto the launch tube. Young children often have significant difficulty in accomplishing this. A flying member on the other hand can configured with a sufficiently large internal diameter so that it is relatively easy to position the flying member on the launch tube; in such a case the flying member will launch at a relatively low air pressure and the flying member will not fly very far or long.
It would be desirable if the flight time and distance of the flying member could be increased without adding significantly to the cost or complexity of the existing toy and with the flying member being relatively easy to mount on the launch tube portion of the toy.
Accordingly, the present invention is an aerial toy, comprising: a hollow sleeve portion, open at both ends; a base member into which the sleeve portion fits longitudinally in a sliding arrangement, the base member being closed at a lower end thereof, such that movement of the base member from a first extended position relative to the sleeve portion to a second position a substantial distance along the sleeve portion results in air moving out the upper end of the sleeve portion; and a flying member having an opening at one end which extends into an internal opening and mountable on the launch tube by a user, the flying member having at least one constriction along its length where the interior diameter of the flying member is slightly decreased, resulting in a tighter fit between the flying member and the launch tube than along the remainder of the flying member, producing a longer flight for the flying member, while still being conveniently mountable on the launch tube.